Episode 7 - EXCLUSIVE ACCESS - Qurity Travels!
EXCLUSIVE ACCESS - MOON ONLY Pokegirls Of Justice - Episode 7 - Qurity Travels! Pokegirls of Justice: Episode 7 - Qurity Travels! ~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~ "Sir! Wait up - excuse me - sir!" Man, the guy walked fast. You'd think, with the long, mysterious cloak and all, they'd be afraid of tripping or something. Especially with all these scientists around, with their experiments and such, thought James as he followed Master to "a private room", whatever the heck that meant. But he pushed down those doubts defiantly. He couldn't be thinking that way about his Master. But.... now that he started, he couldn't stop.... It was was slightly unnerving, how their Master didn't give a second thought about experimenting on Pokemon. Pokemon were liviing things, with thoughts, feelings, families, just like the rest of them - heck, Meowth was a Pokemon himself! Shouldn't he at least fear what could've been? Glancing at the aforementioned Scratch Cat Pokemon, James saw nothing but sheer determination on the cat's eyes. Maybe he was just being silly. After all, once the experiments were done, and the Pokemon's potiental put to good use, Team Rocket would get a share of the glory. No more scraping for food! No more fighting over the bed! Just sweet rest and relaxation. Master arrived at a blank wall, and put a palm to the wall. Dark purple energy radiated from their hand, which formed lines that resembled a doorway. It smoothly blinked away, and the trio followed them inside blindly. A match was lit, and the blue flame spread to torches hung on the wall, illuminating a table between two regular chairs and a big throne-like one. An eerie aura hung in the air as the trio seated themselves opposite to their Master, who was studying a peculiar cube. It had many colors of all kinds, and was crafted so carefully only people like their Master could solve it. "Begin." It was spoken softly, but it was no doubt a command. Jessie cleared her throat, steeling herself. "Our first mission on Earth, to collect information on the Pokegirls and some more Bad Soul Energy, was a mixed bag. We failed - " - her voice faltered at this - " - to retrieve any BSE. But we did manage to gather some info on the girls." Their Master only muttered a "continue" as they fiddled a bit more with the multicolored cube. James nodded, shivering a bit. They were a bit creepy, though he wouldn't admit that aloud, not unless he wanted a slow and painful death. "There were five girls, like you said there would be. They had gotten their hands on the beaker of Minimize and shrunk themselves, so I assume they know very little about magic, despite having a Pokemon partner. Then they had shrunk us as well, and tricked us into thinking we'd won a battle, so they do have strategy skills. They ordered their partners on us, and we relented by throwing down the antidote Growth, which presumably returned them to size as well as us. We then decided to, er, do a strategic retreat, and fled the premises." Their Master sighed quietly. "So you fled like cowards. Predictable." Waving their hand to silence the oncoming protests from Jessie and James, they continued, "We are running low on BSE, and I need you three to collect more. I will send another agent with you this time. He is a shadow designed to fit right in, make friends, and allure the secrets out of them. With both of you working side-by-side, we will gather everything we need." Their Master got up, pointing towards the door. "Dismissed. Do not fail me." Leaving the room, as the gang of evildoers walked through the blank white lab once more, Jessie whistled innocently as she grabbed at a red beaker at whiplash speed. The scientists didn't even seem to notice as she pocketed her keep and headed over quickly to the elevator with her crew. James, however, reacted appropriately. "Jessie!" He hissed under his breath, though the white-cloaked workers ignored them either way. The elevator door was already closing. "You're gonna get us in trouble!" Jessie gave James a look that said "like I give a fudge". "Not if I don't get caught," she deadpanned before uncapping the small container and swallowing it's contents in one gulp, which sparked a shiver done James' spine. "Jessie!" The redhead shrugged, grinning mischievously and throwing the beaker away. "C'mon, James, live a little. It's not a big deal." She patted her stomach and licked her lips hungrily. "Now let's go, I've gotten an apetite from all that anxiety." Ding! The elevator reached the fourth floor. As they exited the elevator, they were met face-to-face with a boy, around fourteen, who was wearing a glare on his face, which was slightly covered by his purple-ish peach bangs. He was wearing a dark blue vest over a light blue sweatshirt, along with baggy brown pants that made Jessie want to gag. Black sneakers adorned his feet, and his hands, fingerless gloves. Giving them a once-over, he scowled. "You three look like idiots." Jessie felt her face heat up and retorted, "Like you can talk, baggy-pants! Seriously, did you scare off your fashion sense with that scowl?" She crossed her arms and huffed, "At least I can properly dress myself." The boy shrugged, unfazed. "I'm your new recruit." Jessie was practically choking. "You? Really?" She rolled her eyes and muttered to James under her breath, "This must be some kind of joke." His glare intensified. "I can assure you, it is not." "Right. Well, I'm sorry to say we aren't accepting babies at the moment. Run along, now, play with your little baby toys or whatever." She motioned impatiently with her hand at the opposite direction. His fist clenched, and his eyes glazed over. "Can a baby do this?" He proceeded to teleport around the room so fast, Jessie and James' heads were rolling. Paul did a backwards double flip, and, body covering itself in black and eyes glowing purple, he performed a series of punches that knocked back the TRio into a wall, effectively knocking the air out of them. Meowth scratched his head in awe, the winced in pain. "Gee, guess he proved himself to ya, Jessie." Jessie got up, and looked ready to snap Meowth in two. James knew she hated being proved wrong. The boy walked up to them, without pride or boastfulness. In fact, it was the same expression he had had when they had walked in - a glare. "I'm a shadow conjured up by our Master," he explained. "I have the powers of the Dark within me, and feel no guilt or shame using them." He waved his hand dismissively. "I take on this form because it'll fit right in with the adolescents at their 'school'. I'll be able to 'make friends' and gather more information then you will, in your stupid mortal bodies. You, then, can gather BSE while I'm at work." James and Meowth nodded throughout this retelling of Master's orders without complaint. Jessie, meanwhile, felt her anger slowly drain out, as if it was being sucked out of her. Maybe that impulsive drink hadn't been quite the best idea after all. She nodded when the purple-haired boy had finished. "Fine. I get it now." She held out a hand. "Shakesies?" Paul took the hand and was greeted by an electric shock, followed by a "Pika Pika!". Jessie let out a burst of laughter, that was quickly turned into a hacking cough as Paul scowled at her again. A scarily real-sounding hacking cough, thought James worridly. ~|~|~|~|~|~|~ Somewhere in the lab... A white-cloaked scientist shouted "Arceus above, I've got it!" exuberantly and held out a beaker of red fluid, bubbling and boiling, for all to see. "A breakthrough! See, I've combined the traits of Kinesis and Night Daze and, in one dose, can give the person who drinks it the powers of both combined!" The scientists clustered together, nodding seriously. The first one continued in a warning tone, "It's a very unstable prototype, and I have no idea what the side effects are, so please don't mess with it. We've got to polish it so it is perfect for our Master!" ~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~ I'm going to make a guess and assume you'd think a Fairy-type would like the cheesy romantic pop music of our current era. Fairy-types are all romantic and all, right? The trends on Earth would appeal to their tastes, no? Well, I'm going to tell you right here and now that Fia is the exception. As the upbeat, generic genre of music blasted from the speakers in Dawn's basement, Fia felt the last remaining bits of her sanity go down the drain. The male singer sang of lost love, how he adored the girl with the stars in her eyes - oh, how incredibly stereotypical. (Fia hated stereotypes with a burning passion hotter than Amber's "emotional heat bursts - especially in songs.) And yet, Serena and the rest of the lot were belting out the lyrics, holding their hands to their hearts as if the guy was singing to them. Which he probably was. It was all a marketing device for moneybags, anyway. The music then stopped for a moment, the song completedy. All was calm. And then ANOTHER - "Dawn! You've got to start packing! And turn that music down, will ya?!" "Alright, dad!" Twisting a knob on the old-fashioned (or in Willow's eyes, ancient) radio, relieving Fia's eardrums. Blissful.... well, normal noise. Curling up, Fia sighed and rested, while the girls starting preparing, or rather, talked about preparing, for the annual school trip. Combing her fingers through her golden brown locks, Serena asked the others, "So what's this about Qurity? I mean, I know all about it, but traditions, I mean?" Iris shrugged. "Let Dawn tell you about it. I never paid attention in History anyway." Dawn, who was bouncing excitedly, cleared her throat authoritatively. Willow padded up closer, eager to learn more about Earth. "It is a tradition for the school to take trips in September to one of the many interesting places in the United. But what is so exciting about this year was the fact that we were traveling to Qurity." She jumped up. "Wait! I made a presentation about this! One second, lemme just - " she scrambled up the basement stairs, and after hearing a few alarming noises, Dawn appeared to the girls once more, holding an old presentation device. "Alright, just gotta - hmmm mmm mm, connect this - alrighty, aaaand play!" Appearing on the wall of the basement was Dawn, but smaller. She was wearing a red dress with yellow flowers, and had her hair tied up in a bun. She looked a bit nervous, but also excited, bouncing on the balls of her feet (which Serena figured was a Dawn thing). "Awwww! Mini Dawn is so cute!" Misty pointed out truthfully. May snorted, and Iris put a hand on the blushing bluenette's shoulder in mock somberness. "And now, it's time for Dawn Roseberry's presentation. Dawn?" Serena turned back to the video eagerly, and the other girls perked up in attention too. Kid!Dawn nodded at the offscreen speaker and began reading from a paper she held in her tiny hands. "Qurity City is a city known historically as the place the United came together officially. After long years trying to find peace, the United, or formerly, the United States and Canada, the two finally settled on an agreement. On September 16, 1980, the leaders of the two countries, Catrina T. Ferquad and Caroline Violeta Yansham, came together in Qurity and signed the Document of Peace of Uniting, forming the United. On the Friday after, all the citizens of the city were overjoyed and celebrated with festivities and a big parade, where everyone gathered and ate lots of yummy treats." At this, Kid!Dawn rubbed her tummy for emphasis, sparking laughter from adults offscreen in the video, and more intense blushing from Teen!Dawn. "Now, every Friday after September 16 is the day of the big parade, and a big dance, which my dad said I'd be able to go to with any boy I'd like once I'm big and grown." After recieving applause from both the offscreen viewers and the ones now, Dawn hurriedly pressed a button and shut it off. "A-Alright, that's enough of that." Serena nodded. "Wow. I feel very informed." Dawn scratched the back of her head. "Nowadays Qurity is all trends and celebrities, but it actually has a pretty cool history. The Parade Cotillion is actually very famous for having being started by two lovers from differing villages that hated each other. As it turned out, there were many people who loved each other in the same fashion, and the two aforementioned people started a secret dance, where the lovers could be together without facing harsh punishment." Serena had had a sparkle in her eye as soon as Dawn had uttered the word "lovers". "So.... you could say the dance is romantic?" She waved dismissively, "Not for any personal reasons, I can assure you." The rest of the girls looked at her in total disbelief, then looked at each other mischievously. May broke out, "Silly dilly! You don't have to hide your crush on Ash! It's not like we haven't seen the signs!" She muttered under her breath, "And it's not like it wasn't obvious from that 'Crush Gush' game." Dawn strung her arm around Serena's neck. "Right! And to answer your question, of course the dance is romantic! I mean, it was founded by two forbidden lovers, how much more romantic can you get?" Serena flushed pink, then stood up confidently and said, "You're right! You know what? I'll ask Ash to the dance myself!" May, Dawn and Iris all clapped happily, with Misty quietly shouting, "Woo-hoo! Girl power!" Instead of feeling all girl-power, though, she felt as if a rock had thrown itself down her throat and into her stomach. Disgusting mental image, but it was the only analogy she could think of. But she refused to confront that. She needed to be supportive of her friend, even if it was about dating her best friend. Right? (She also had forgotten to tell Serena about her being Ash's bff, but watch that not completely blow up in her face later.) After doing a bit of research, Dawn found out tha, by mere chance, the week the ninth grade was spending in Qurity was the same week of the parade. (Serena the spouted many theories about this and how it was "so obviously" connected to how they were Pokegirls, and gushing about So obviously, what the girls were really preparing for was the time of their lives. (Or at least, that's what Serena was preparing for.) ~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~ Having to part ways after chatting for what felt like forever (it was only thirty minutes), the girls quickly remembered their need to pack and hurried home, only because they needed to pack clothes, and well, you can't just conjure your clothes up while in someone else's basement. That's cartoon logic. Serena, with the miles of piles of clothes she had, started looking through her closet, picking out only the best of the best. She FaceTimed May and the others to help her pick out a dress for the Parade Cotillion (Fia had declined help and Serena doubted she was good at picking out what to wear anyway) which was also very important because.... y'know. "I-It's not a big deal," she stammered as the other girls started to tease her (with Misty as the exception), feeling much more insecure about her sudden declaration now. "I just want to see if he accepts. I hardly even know him that well, so I'll just be going as friends, I swear!" May gave her the stink eye. "Suuuuuuuure. Oh, but what's this? The parade dance has a masquerade theme this year? And the dance has romantic implications anyway? Hmmmmmm, how curious!" "Shut up!" Serena blushed profusely. "I didn't call you all to tease me!" May smirked triumphingly, but shut her trap. She narrowed her eyes critically at all the dresses, looking for "the one". Then, just as they reached the ends of Serena's endless closet, May pointed and screeched, "There! That one!" The girls straightened up with a fright, but quickly melted in awe as Serena walked out in the hot pink gown, which had sleeves that anchored to Serena's shoulders, and a bodice with scattered sparkly gems that shone like stars, and added that extra "flair". The skirt was less poofy then her Pokegirl counterpart's, but it had a light feel that Serena had loved when she had bought it, and it too had sparkles crowding at the hem. Serena had tied her hair back with a pink ribbon, into a ponytail that added spunk to the outfit. She wore sparkly rhinestone earrings, along with (once she lifted up the long skirt) light pink wedges (she had twisted her ankle the last time she had worn heels and did not want to relive the experience dancing with Ash). She didn't have a mask as of yet, but there was most likely going to be some place to craft them or buy them, so she didn't fret about it. "So? What do you think?" She twirled slowly for her judges, who were placed at an angle perfect for viewing the mini fashion show. Cheers and shouts erupted from the girls, which made Serena flush with happiness. "You look amazing!" "Wow!" "You're gonna blow him away!" Serena gave them a dramatic bow. Thanking them, she hurridly yet carefully unclothed herself, stashing away the outfit, and put on a regular outfit of ankle-length jeans, a pink t-shirt with a black rose on it, and black flats, along with her suitcase and purse (which held her grumbling Partner, who would be discreetly deposited into the back of the bus with all the luggage). Perfect. Heading downstairs, she fluffed out her hair as she checked herself one last time in the hallway mirror. Makeup? Check. No acne? Check. Earrings? Check. Smile? She grinned. Definitely check. Her mom was the only obstacle left on the way out. Standing there all proud-looking, she grabbed Serena and pulled her into a bear hug. "Look at you. Going off to the city all by yourself. All grown up." Serena wriggled under her mom's death hug. After a few moments, her mom relented, giving her a kiss on the head before adding, "Stay safe out there, okay, kiddo?" Serena suddenly felt the urge to cry. She had never left her mom more than a night or two for sleepovers. This was new and scary. But it was a good kind of new and scary. (Well, I dunno how good "scary" can be, but eh.) She nodded once. "Alright." Running towards the school, she looked back one last time, giving her mom the thumbs up. Then she turned the corner and jogged to the beat of the thrill of something new. ~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~ The school used two kinds of buses: the first was ye regular olde yellow bus. The second, well, that was the super expensive super awesome blue bus used only once every year - the annual school trip bus. It was longer and wider than a regular bus, fit to accommodate an entire grade in the back, and a few select teachers in the front, along with a certified bus driver. (Yes, he indeed did have a certificate. It was incredible.) The rows were arranged like a normal bus's, but with double the room - each row had four seats instead of two. Unfortunately, it retained the same problems for when you were late - like a certain dirty blonde - aka you didn't get choose who you got seated with. So while the other four girls were clustered together, talking animatedly, Serena was paired with Cilan, Drew and what do ya know - Ash Totally and completely an accidental incident. "Oh - hey Serena! I haven't seen you out of class! Guys, this is Serena, she's from my first period!" Serena felt her face go hot, as it always did in close proximity to Ash. "H-Hey." She waved awkwardly, then scolded herself. Couldn't she be a bit more flavorful? Drew gave her a non-impressed look, but that look morphed into something else as recognition lit up in his eyes and he seemed to put two and two together. "You're.... May's friend, right?" Serena, a bit puzzled, nodded. Drew put a hand to his chin, seemingly deep in thought. "Got it." Cilan held out his hand, gentleman that he was. "Greetings and salutations," he said as he shook her hand heartily. "My name is Cilan. Come, sit! I promise you, Drew doesn't bite." Drew huffed angstly like the emo boy he was. Settling down into the remaining seat, Serena sighed quietly. Here she was, with a bunch of guys, one of them her crush, instead of with her fellow Pokegirls. (It wasn't like she would've been able to catch a seat with them anyways. Four seats, remember? But Serena was too busy wallowing in self-pity to quite realize it.) Ah well. At least she got the window seat. (It was really pretty outside.) The bus started with a jolt forward, and cheers sprang from the excited students as the bus crawled along, the journey starting. ~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~ "D'ya think she missed the bus?" Dawn bit at her fingernails. She hadn't seen Serena board the bus, and it had been thirty minutes since they had left the school. Iris pumped her head to the beat of some unheard music streaming through her headphones. She shrugged, though Dawn wasn't sure if it was in response to her rhetorical question or in response to the music. Oh, wait, no, she was doing jazz hands, definitely the music. Misty was taking a nap, snoring softly and leaning on the window (she had gotten first dibs on the seat, earning playful glares from everyone). May was the only one looking at least a little worried as well. "Don't worry, I'm sure she's - ow?!" She felt a something hit the top of her head. In her lap fell a paper airplane, and unfolded it read, "Got your girlfriend here with me. - D". Wriggling around her mandatory seat belt (seat belt!), May peered over the top of seat, making out Drew's annoying frame alongside Cilan, Ash, and.... Serena? Sure enough, it was the chic blonde haired girl, who was trying to look anywhere but Ash. (Each time she did glance at him she blushed heavily. And that was a lot of times.) Sliding down her seat again, May crossed her arms angrily. "That stupid cabbage head. Dawn, can you make a paper airplane?" Dawn took a moment before responding with a "yeah", meaning she TECHINICALLY could, but it'd be a basic dart at best. Which was perfectly fine for May. The simpler, the better. May scribbled out a message for the rude boy. "alrighty. hope you havent made a move on her." She passed it to Dawn who read it before smirking slightly (wonder what that was about) and folding it, then throwing it back where May pointed. May let out a deranged sort of giggle when it hit Drew in the head, then slid down again so he couldn't see her. Moments later, the plane gracefully landed itself on Dawn's head. The cursive read, "Who's to say I haven't already? It'd be oh so romantic. - D". Scribbling in a bunch of rage, she wrote crudely, "ill snap your neck, you little twit" and then two other not very nice words I've purposefully omitted. Not even asking Dawn for help, she threw the crumpled paper directly at Drew's green mess of hair, where it crashed before landing into his lap. Settling down with a satisfied smirk, she let out a strangled grunt when the paper hit her head yet again. Surprisingly, he had simply written, "Now now, no need to get physical, love. Though you do look cute when you're mad. - D" near the bottom of the paper, along with some doodles. A worm of mixed feelings wriggled through her stomach, but she ignored that defiantly. So what, he thought she was cute? There wasn't any place to put an answer, so she retrieved another paper from her assigned journal (to write notes on cool stuff, basically) and wrote on there instead. "fine." She thought for a moment, tapping her chin. Suddenly, an opportunity presented itself, and she wrote, "btw, what happened to that fashion show?" She gave the paper to Dawn with a grunt, and the blunette nodded silently and did her work. May took the aircraft and launched it, and it flewswiftly and quietly to it's target. A few moments later, the airplane landed back at May's lap, mission complete. "The show was cancelled. Something happened to Fantina. It's been all over the internet, haven't you seen?" May picked up her phone and searched "Fantina Bellarie disappearance". Up came up articles about the big event being cancelled, and, picking a random one, May read about how everything was going as planned, but when a final roll call was placed, the star of the show herself didn't show. "She hasn't picked up her phone since then," her assistant was quoted. "We are ever so worried." Well that was interesting. Normally, people didn't just disappear, but this was a celebrity they were talking about. Didn't they do this for Insta likes? Or even just for fun? Of course, from what May could deduce from the pictures and resources (i.e. Encyclopedia the free Wikipedia), Fantina took her fame seriously. The designer was quoted saying, "It isn't just fun and games. We are innovators, just like the scientists and politicians. We focus and create new things. That is our passion as fashion designers." Innovation. Passion. May liked this gal. The fiery brunette decided against making another letter to Drew. She learned what she wanted, she didn't need to continue a conversation at would inevitably end in disaster/Drew's arms getting ripped off. Instead, she folded the paper airplane up neatly, tucking it away into one of her suitcase's many pockets, narrowly avoiding both Drew's and Dawn's gazes (the latter was making childish kissy faces at May, who waved her off impatiently). ~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~ Serena had actually been quite invested in the May-Drew drama. Declaring it a frenemy-to-lovers relationship, she not-so-secretly may-or-may-not-have shipped them, and with a private eye insight on Drew, those feels rocketed up. Look at them! He literally told her he thought she looked cute! It was so clearly written out, and May was.... Well, May was probably aware of his flirting. The way May was, though, was that, because he acted like an unlikable twit once, she was holding it against him. Which Serena thought was really frustrating, both to Drew and to her. But she'd come around. Especially if Drew aaked her to the Parade Cotillion, like Serena predicted he would. All the signs were there, of course. But there were bigger concerns right now. Like how Ash's elbow was touching hers and she was freaking out. After the drama between the green-haired flirt and the hot-headed brunette settled down (May didn't send another plane back, so presumably she got tired of Drew's flirting), Serena became hyper-aware of her surroundings, especially a certain black-haired jock. Ash was taking a nap, so he wasn't aware of Serena, but Serena was definitely aware of him. This was going to be a long ride. ~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~ "You are approaching Qurity City. Please roll up windows and keep seated." The message played in a few different languages before stopping. Serena, who had fiddled with her phone mostly, listening to music with her SkyPods, caught sight of the outrageously cool view of the city from the highway they were driving on. Sprawling, shiny buildings, spread out and yet so close, glittered and gleamed in the sunset light. The skys were bursting with a thousand shades of pinks and purples, blues and yellows. Serena took a deep breath in awe, then felt a pang of sadness hit her. This - this was where she used to live. Not Qurity exactly, but a city. She thrived here. And being a city kid was the best, in her completely-biased opinion. Ice cream shops next door, playgrounds that brought all kinds of people together, sidewalks where she would join hands with her and her parents. She missed that. But now was not the time to think about that. (Time to think about sad things? Never. Preferably never.) She let out the breath uneasily, and turned her SkyPods back on, playing a generic pop song Fia would surely hate. Fia. Wonder how she was doing in the back of the bus with the other Partners. ~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~ "I can't do this. I cannot, I simply cannot - " Fia, meanwhile, was pacing wildly, which was incredibly difficult when you're in a mobile vehicle. Carelessly thrown around like a ragdoll was going to leave quite a few bruises, and she was one hundred percent blaming it on Serena. Her insides were squirming; and she swore if they didn't get out soon - well, it wouldn't be pretty is what. The others were mostly sleeping, or rather, trying to sleep; again, ragdolling all over the place is extremely painful. Nixie in particular was especially annoyed by this. "Fudge this. Absolutely fudging fudge this." "Language," scolded Fia, even though the kids couldn't hear the Vaporeon. Willow let out a snort. "You should hear all the curses Aunt Rosa lets loose when she trips over me. It's an experience." Fia raised an eyebrow. "They don't say fudgesticks? I figured, but then... what do they say?" Willow smiled eagerly. "Well, there's f-" ~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~ "We've arrived, class, so please - Samantha! Mind your manners! Ahem. Anyways - " Ms. Burnet raised a hand to her mouth, barely covering her smile. "Er, could we get on with it?" After getting a harsh glare in reply, she backed up a bit, waving her arms in defense. "Sorry! I'm just bored of being caged in like an animal." She shivered for extra dramatic effect. Standing in front of the class was a huge building. In big, shiny gold cursive, the name "Historic Qurity Resort" with five stars underneath it, shone under the sunset sky. May had to agree. While riding was fun and exciting and all, she needed to stretch and move around, keep her muscles moving. After everyone had herded off the bus, Serena had rejoined the 'girls hurridly, trying to avoid eye contact with a certain black-haired boy. Misty, surprisingly, also seemed eager to avoid Ash's gaze. Iris, after being outvoted by the rest of the girls, got to be the one to retrieve their Partners and suitcases. Returning huffily, she dropped numerous multicolored suitcases and slumped. "Here - " - she gulped in breaths overdramatically - "are your bags." May giggled, then helped her friend up. Realizing they had mostly ignored their teacher, she turned back sheepishly to a glaring Mrs. Beverly. (Remember her?) "Ahem. In case some individuals didn't pay attention, I will brief you yet again. We are entering a hotel that is very high standard, so please, don't play around. This isn't a daycare and you aren't ten. Here are our scheduled activities throughout the week." She passed out pamphlets with pictures of a birds-eye view of the parade on the front. On the back, a view of the Parade Cotillion. Serena flipped through it excitedly and let out a squeal. "Yes! We're going to the Parade Cotillion!" After people gave her amused looks, she realised she was being a bit loud, and, voice lowered to a whisper, repeated, "We're going to the Parade Cotillion!" Mrs. Beverly cleared her throat importantly. "The rooms are organized in groups of five. The groups will be: Ash Ketchum, Cilan DeWalten, Drew Aitos, Georgia Itlodelkin, and Zoey Deschutes." Ash smiled at his former busmates. "Alright!" He hooked his arms around their necks happily. Cilan started turning purple, his stick-like neck threatening to break. "Ash - need - to breathe -" Ash backed off, scratching the back of his neck. "Whoops. Sorry, Cilan." Cilan smiled cheerily. "No worries. You only broke a few bones!" Drew rolled his eyes and flipped his hair. Georgia gave him a disgusted look, and Zoey's expression can only be described as "help me". Yikes. "The next group," Mrs. Beverly continued, "will consist of Serena Morton - " "Watch this, guys," Serena whispered to her friends. "It'll be us. Just you wait." " - May Williams - " May and Serena high-fived happily. " - Dawn Roseberry - " Dawn gave the two a thumbs up. " - Iris Rameriz - " "One more," Serena chanted. " - and M-" "YES! MISTY!" "-iette Fil A Pytra." Serena's jaw dropped. "What. The. Fudge." Miette rolled her eyes and walked over to her group. "Ugh. You losers." There was slightly less bite in her tone, Serena noted curiously. Dawn started to bite her fingernails again. "Wait, where's Misty going to go? Mrs. Beverly, can we trade - " Mrs. Beverly glared icily at Dawn, who shut her trap promptly. "What is that?" Miette poked at Fia, having suddenly Apparated at Serena's side. "A dog? Tut tut, Serena, we can't bring dogs on this trip." Serena pulled her purse away from Miette's grubby little hands. "No," she said quickly, "It's.... it's a stuffed animal of mine." Miette's eyes lit up mischievously. "A stuffed animal? You still sleep with those?" Serena winced, preparing herself for Miette to shout it out for the world - but Miette simply leaned close and booped Serena's nose playfully. "Well, your secret's safe with me." Serena blushed at Miette's sudden affectionate gesture. "U-um, okay...." She looked at the others for help, but they only shrugged. This was out of character....? Who knew what to do now. Miette, returning to her normal standing position, examined her fingernails. "Alrighty, let's get moving. I'm famished. That means hungry." She winked at Serena before striding inside. "I know what famished means," the dirty blonde muttered before heading in after the blue-haired girl. Inside, the hotel had a sort of retro-futuristic vibe going. The walls had wallpaper styles that had gone out ages ago, but were adorned with flat 4D TVs that played welcoming messages filmed in black in white. It weirded Serena out, but Iris found it comforting. "Like home," she had said. After retrieving the keys for all of the rooms, Mrs. Beverly gave each group their keys. Miette recieved the 'Girl's keys. Strolling through the old building, Serena took in just how big it was. After the foyer, there were staircases to the rooms, or you could go to the dining room, or you could go to the entertainment room, OR you could go outside to the SPA! She wondered how the homely little Middletown highschool she attended had gotten their hands on enough money to afford such luxaries. Taking note that Misty's (and Ash's) group was only a few rooms down from theirs, Serena watched as Miette inserted the key and twisted, opening the door exburently. Skipping inside the peach-colored room, she spun around and flopped unto one of the beds. "Ahhhhhh. Memory foam." May tested out another one of the quintiple beds, and instantly curled up on it. The other girls soon followed, sighing as they felt immense comfort they'd never felt in their life. They only make em like that in Qurity, don't they? Even better, after fiddling with the master remote a bit, Iris figured out an entire flippin wall could turn into a window. Turning transparent, the girls rushed to the newly made window, gasping in awe of the sunset in the city, which was ending right about now. The stars slowly but surely trickled out, covering the night sky with their sparkly glows. Turning the TV to a relaxing music channel, the girls put on their pajamas and crawled into their beds, sleep washing over them like the tide. ~|~|~|~|~|~|~